How many hunt solo

Luked

WKR
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
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have tried for years to get out west and something always gets in the way of me going.
so for 2019 I'm gonna give it a go again and try and make it out there.

with that said how many of you hunt back country solo?
I don't really have anyone here local that I would want to go with. I know one guy sort of local that goes out west every year but he already has a hunting bud that goes with him and not something I want to try and invite myself on so I'm considering going solo. I know there would be a lot of challenges doing this but would like to hear some pros and cons from the ones that go solo
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2016
Messages
906
I go solo about 1/2 the time. Some times pref points just don't line up with buddies. Sometimes I have a higher priority hunt I want to do that friends don't, etc....

Going solo vs going with someone else has pros/cons.
pro- you don't have anyone else to consult with if you want to move, where to hunt, etc.... your free to do anything you want

Con- The only con I see is the danger in going alone. Every step I take or log I climb over is thought through in regards to first aid. If I get hurt, I'm it. I do my due diligence and let people know where, when and how I'm going but lack of cell service in most places means it might be days/weeks before someone will be coming.

At the end of the day I was in your shoes and couldn't get people to go with so I finally said I'm going regardless. Over the last decade now I've come to prefer going solo. I still enjoy a good hunting camp with friends/family but I really enjoy hunting solo also.....
 

hflier

WKR
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I have to go solo. At 56 not a lot of guys my age want to backpack hunt. Actually, it gives you freedom to pursue your own plan.

This year I am going solo on a late season Elk hunt in AZ. That should be interesting. I think the biggest issue for me on that hunt will be the amount of darkness. Hell I only sleep 6 hours a night, it will get dark early at the beginning of December, so I will have some long nights. I am always worried about the pack out, but it will be cool and where I am going, there are a lot of roads around so it shouldn't be too bad. I can take smaller loads.

To address the safety issue I always take an Inreach and this year I may take a Sat phone.

Ron
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
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I go solo quite a bit. Much easier to just go, and not have to deal with someone else's schedule or baggage. But I've never had a problem heading into the unknown solo. I used to disappear into the river bottoms for the entire day even as a 7 year old. So when I got older, heading into the mountains was no difference.
 

rayporter

WKR
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Jul 3, 2014
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arkansas or ohio
i have went elk hunting solo since my pard died in 09. sometimes i have found friends to camp with when i arrived.

when my next pard broke his leg at 9300 i got an in reach. at 70 i still disappear for a few days deer hunitn alone every year.
 

Mt Al

WKR
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Dec 16, 2017
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Montana
I go solo quite a bit. Much easier to just go, and not have to deal with someone else's schedule or baggage. .

Wisdom. I almost always go solo, don't have to wonder where someone is if you split up, you're on your own schedule and can change to suit your needs. I leave a map with my wife and am almost always, unfortunately but cell towers seem to be popping up everywhere, in cell range.
 

67bronco

FNG
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Aug 7, 2018
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South Carolina
Im in your same shoes. Never been either and cant get anyone to commit. Decided im gonna go chase a speedgoat and apply for mulie next fall. Even if they are does or even tag soup. Never learn if you dont go. The safety factor is what gets me. Hopefully i can get some contacts out there and if i run into trouble i can get a hand. Good luck on your quest
 
Joined
Sep 23, 2017
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I hunt alone almost always. I find it far easier and more enjoyable to take responsibility for myself alone than it is for me to feel the need to compromise my hunt in order to
Insure someone else’s good time. I like going on other people’s hunts a lot though. Happy to help and tag along and take pictures etc. way easier to enable another guys hunt independently of my own than it is to share my hunt with another.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

codym

WKR
Joined
Jan 30, 2018
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483
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Las Cruces
I usually hunt solo. Just not many people I can count on to commit the time or investment both physical and financial. Just go. Everything can be dangerous just be smart about things. Don't push past your limits and take care of your body. Have emergency plans, use an in reach or at minimum a GPS backed up with paper maps. Be in shape and you will be fine.
 

wyodan

WKR
Joined
Jan 11, 2013
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729
I hunt solo every time. Just make sure you feel comfortable being able to push back the same distance that you went out that day. I figure a guy should be able to do 15 mi in a day if needed, so I generally make sure I'm less than 8 away from my camp. If you're elk hunting, just know they are big and it takes a lot of work to get them out. I watched 2 people get in to a situation up to their neck last year with an elk. They got it out, but they weren't really prepared for it.
 
Joined
Feb 17, 2017
Messages
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I haven't been able to do a solo backpack hunt for a while. Too many people I want to hunt with...and only a few hunts a year is tough.
But this year I am doing a 10day solo elk and I am VERY excited!
 

strand

Lil-Rokslider
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Nov 10, 2015
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North Dakota
Just go. Pick a spot, buy the tag, and go. Get far enough into it that you can't back out and go, you won't regret it.

I do mostly solo stuff anymore. It's hard to find someone with the same capabilities and expectations that you have. I've planned hunts with other people and wound up going solo the majority of the time anyways because the other person backs out, or decides last minute they want to pull a camper out to a trailhead campground instead of packing in, or they can only do 5 days instead of the agreed upon 8 days, etc. So now I plan hunts based on being solo, then if someone wants to join I'm not changing plans vs the other way around. If I were to fill out a satisfaction survey at the end of every hunt, the solo ones would regularly score higher than the ones where I'm with a partner. About the only exception would be hunting with my brother, but we haven't been hunting together in years and he has all but lost interest in chasing big game out west. I think spending 7 years on a hotshot crew living in the dirt cured him of any lust for a backcountry hunt. This isn't to say that hunting solo is the only way to go, but if it's the only way you can go right now you should get out there. There are plenty of guys that would never go on a solo hunt because for them the camaraderie means more than anything else. I do enjoy spending time in camp with like minded people, but I think I hunt better with the pressure of being solo and knowing that every decision is on my shoulders. About the only con for me is the packout kind of sucks when you're solo and kill a mature bull.
 
Joined
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ANF
I’ll be hunting solo this year CO In the San Juan’s solo pretty psyched for it.... all of my buddies have backed out for petty ass reasons... I find it really hard to find friends that breathe to bowhunt and adventure
 

amp713

WKR
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
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Utah
When I decided I wanted to hunt off the road I didnt have anyone who wanted to do it with me. I've done it solo ever since....

Edit: I should mention I live out west and still couldn't find people who wanted to do it the way I wanted to so dont think the trek west is the biggest issue. Some people are scared of what they may face back there, especially the idea of facing themselves.
 

303TrophyHusband

Lil-Rokslider
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May 19, 2017
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MT
I like solo hunting(and especially solo flyfishing), but it's always nice to have a buddy or two on speed dial that are willing to help do some packing:) Another way I've done it is being in the same vicinity as a partner, 2-3 miles apart, then there's some backup if you need it but at the same time you're on your own schedule.
 

CorbLand

WKR
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Mar 16, 2016
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I do it every once in awhile. I dont like it. I can stand about 2 days being stuck in my own head, then I need some sanity.
 

johnhenry

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 17, 2017
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W CO
, unfortunately but cell towers seem to be popping up everywhere, in cell range.

yes very unfortunate. it takes the risk down a notch and thus more folks go deeper or higher. Technology has a way of spoiling the wilderness.

I have mainly solo hunted. I have had one great hunt with two friends - it all just lined up. I guess that would be when I did not solo hunt - when a situation kinda of just formed itself and it all felt right. So until it happens agian I will hunt by myself - both backcountry and front country - with no phone, no GPS, no Spot.
 

johnhenry

Lil-Rokslider
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May 17, 2017
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W CO
I do it every once in awhile. I dont like it. I can stand about 2 days being stuck in my own head, then I need some sanity.

that is truely the hardest part of being out by yourself. I get damn tired of hearing myself think.
 
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